


My Hero

by Ionaonie



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Episode Tag, Friendship, M/M, Pre-Slash, Team, episode s01e09
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-23
Updated: 2011-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-27 22:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/300765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ionaonie/pseuds/Ionaonie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While waiting for Elle to be seen in the hospital, Morgan talks to Reid about what happened on the train.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Hero

Spencer was sitting curled up on one of the most uncomfortable hospital chairs he’d ever had the unfortunate luck to sit on. Some might say that he was hugging his bag, but really his bag was just in his lap and his arms were wrapped around it. He was staring at the floor, trying his best to not think too hard about his time on the train. JJ had been keeping him company but she had gone to check on Elle, mostly at Spencer’s insistence. Gideon and Hotch were talking to the local police and Morgan was still with Dr Deaton.

‘You used to do magic tricks during your college exams?’

Spencer nearly fell out of his chair. He’d been drifting and hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings.

‘’You okay, Reid?’ Morgan came and sat down on the table in front of him.

‘You just scared me, that’ll all.’ He didn’t want to talk about it so he focused on something else. ‘What was the question?’

Morgan gave him a look that told Spencer that he knew that he was changing the topic of conversation but that Morgan was letting him. This time. ‘You said you did magic tricks during your exams.’

‘Not big ones, I mean, not anything that would distract the others.’ He shrugged. ‘Just, you know...’

Morgan nodded his understanding ‘What kind of tricks did you do?’

‘Oh, nothing that spectacular. Just disappearing coins, pencils or pens. That kind of thing.’

‘How long were your exams?’

‘Couple of hours. Sometimes three.’ In other words, never long enough for what he wanted to say.

‘And how long were you distracting yourself?’

‘Oh, I wasn’t trying to distract myself. It was more like, uh, trying to, well, ground my thoughts, I guess. I was always writing right up to the last minute. But I, uh, sometimes found my mind drifting all over the place.’

‘Why doesn’t that surprise me?’

‘Which bit?’ Now that he understood it, he enjoyed Morgan’s teasing.

‘You writing to the last minute and the fact that your thoughts drift.’ Morgan was grinning at him though and Reid couldn’t help but grin back, even though he wasn’t really feeling all that jolly.

‘Well, I can’t believe that you wanted me to teach you how to do a magic trick in less than thirty minutes.’

The smile fell from Morgan’s mouth. ‘I should have been in there with you, kid.’

Spencer twisted around and leaned back against the chair so he could look at Morgan. ‘It wasn’t your fault. Dr Bryar only wanted one technician. I was it. There wasn’t really much you, Gideon or Hotch could do about it.’

Morgan scowled at him. ‘Doesn’t mean I have to have liked it.’

‘Uh-huh.’

And Morgan hadn’t liked it. Really hadn’t liked it.

‘Reid, I’m not about to let you on that train with an armed psychotic.’

For a moment back there Spencer had actually been worried that Morgan was about to pull him out of the observation unit, lock him in the car and refuse to let him get on the train. He had looked almost as if he was going to argue with Gideon.

It should have pissed him off but the worry in Morgan’s eyes had actually been very nice. While Morgan had been doing up his vest – which, had anyone else tried that, he would have pointed out that he knew how to put on a vest, thank you very much – he had found it kind of difficult to concentrate on everything Morgan was telling him, or anything, really.

‘You shouldn’t have been put in that position, Reid. We should have been able to find another way.’

‘I did okay, though, didn’t I?’ Spencer winced internally as he heard the need to be reassured in his voice. God, he hated sounding so pathetic.

Morgan sighed. ‘Kid, you did better than okay. I don’t need to tell you that.’

‘I took the vest off. You told me not to do that. I didn’t manage to leave, either, did I? And Gideon told me not to do that.’

Spencer knew how frustrated Morgan had been when he took the vest off because JJ had told him. She had said that he looked for all the world like he was going to march into the train and put the vest back on.

‘Reid, he was armed and suffering from powerful delusions. You did what you had to.’

‘I kind of screwed up though.’ It was easier to admit that to Morgan than it was to either Hotch or Gideon. It felt like he was letting them down, whereas with Morgan, it felt more like he was learning something.

Morgan frowned. ‘How so?’

Spencer liked that about Morgan. He let Spencer talk things out. He knew he could talk to Hotch or Gideon, but there was always a chance that either of them could just have reassured him that he did nothing wrong and that he should be proud of what he had managed to accomplish. Morgan, though, he would sit and listen, and sometimes sit, waiting ages for Spencer to stumble on what was on his mind.

‘After I got the chip out, I got p too quickly. I should have waited, given it a minute and then tried to leave.’ He had been cursing himself for acting too quickly from the moment Dr Bryar had refused to let him out of the train.

‘Maybe you’re right,’ Morgan shrugged, ‘or maybe you’re wrong. I know you know everything, but even you can’t predict what could have happened in another timeline.’

‘Are you...are you talking to me about alternate universes?’

Morgan smirked. ‘Maybe.’

‘No fair.’

‘I’m just saying, for all you know, if you’d paused, he might have thought you were too self assured and not nervous enough and killed you all then.’

Spencer rolled his eyes. ‘Now that’s comforting thought. Thank you.’

‘Just trying to help, my man.’

He hugged his bag tighter. ‘He caught me off guard, you know.’

‘Didn’t look like it.’

‘He asked me to turn the chip on. I hadn’t even thought about the possibility that he might want me to do something after removing it.’

‘Most unsub’s wouldn’t have. But, Bryar was smart. We all should have thought of the possibility of him being less predictable because of it.’

‘Mayb...hang on. Was? Dr Bryar was smart?’ Did...did he-’

He started to get up. If Dr Bryar was dead then he had to...had to... Well, Spencer didn’t know what he had to do, but he had to do something. He was forced back into his chair by Morgan’s hand on his shoulder.

‘Shit, Reid, no man, I’m sorry. He’s fine. I checked in on him before I came to find you. In surgery, but nothing life-threatening.’

‘Oh. Okay. Good. I just...You know, he was brilliant before he went crazy.’ He stared down at the floor near Morgan’s feet.

‘Garcia filled me in.’

‘He was brilliant and he went crazy.’ It was something he worried about constantly, but was never able to talk about to anyone. He had never spoken to anyone about his mother, and it was difficult to start now, no matter how much he trusted his friends.

Morgan gripped his face, forcing Spencer to look at him. ‘Reid, being smart and being crazy aren’t mutually exclusive, you know that. I know you know that.’

‘I know that...I’m just...’ He couldn’t do it; he couldn’t talk about his mother. Not even to Morgan. He sighed. ‘Ignore me, it’s been a long day and I’m tired. I’m not making any sense.’

Morgan looked at him for a long moment before releasing his face. ‘Okay, if you say so.’ His tone of voice told Spencer that Morgan hadn’t really bought his excuse but he must have been looking truly pathetic because Morgan was letting it go. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.

‘You know, I’m still pissed at you guys for all looking as though I was going to my death.’

Morgan snorted.

‘Seriously, you all looked as though you were going to be going to my funeral the next day. Only Hotch managed to say anything and even he sounded like he was forcing it.’

As much as it was nice hearing Hotch trying to reassure him, Reid would have secretly liked it if Morgan had been the one to say something. Or him to have said something as well as Hotch. That would have been extra nice.

‘Reid, I would have been worried no matter who went in there.’

‘I know that.’ And really he did. Morgan was protective of the team. He had this whole older brother vibe going on – Garcia’s words, not his – and he was forever putting himself in the firing line.

‘So, how did you talk Bryar down? Gideon was worried you were pushing him too far.’

‘I did what you told me too.’ He would never have thought of talking to Leo if he hadn’t been listening to all of Morgan’s instructions.

‘And what was that?’

‘I bought into the illusion. Only a different one.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘After he’d shot Dr Deaton I saw him talking to someone who wasn’t there. He called him Leo. So I acted as though Leo was there, that I could see him and that he was the one forcing Dr Bryar to do what he was doing.’

Spencer just hoped that Elle hadn’t mentioned to Morgan everything that he’d said about understanding what Ted was going through. He’d never heard voices, but part about sitting in classrooms and reading and then the responsibility of all the knowledge he’d accumulated; that had been true enough. He distorted it enough that hopefully Elle had believed him when he said that he’d just been buying into the illusion, but he wasn’t too sure. And if Morgan ever asked him about it, Spencer had no doubt that he would end up telling Morgan everything.

‘Which in a way he was,’ said Morgan.

‘Exactly. And he was about to give me the gun and everything would have been fine, except...’

‘Mr Anderson shot him.’

‘Yeah. Do we know what he was doing with a gun in his briefcase?’

‘Nope, although he did say something about visiting his estranged wife, according to the police chief.’

‘Wow.’

‘Yeah.’

‘I would have thought that Patel, the drunk would have been the one to make the most trouble. Instead, he just ended up being a pest.’

‘That boy just kept standing up, making a nuisance of himself. I was half tempted to come in and knock his ass down.’

‘Without Dr Bryar noticing?’

‘Preferably, yeah.’

Spencer laughed. ‘I don’t think it would have worked. You’re a pretty noticeable guy.’

‘That plus, I think Gideon and Hotch would have had a collective heart attack if I’d tried.’

‘So what was Patel saying every time he stood up? Seemed like he had a lot to say.’

‘Oh, he was sprouting nonsense about all the different ways the government spies on you and how big brother everything has become.’ Spencer grinned. ‘You know, he sounded truly awed when I pulled the chip out of Dr Bryar’s arm. I wonder if we’ve managed to create another paranoid schizophrenic.’

‘I think we’ve got enough to worry about, Reid, without adding more.’

Spencer was going to argue when Gideon walked into the waiting room, looking distracted. But then, he often looked distracted.

‘Are you both ready to go?’ asked Gideon.

‘Yeah, we are,’ said Morgan, standing up.

He offered Spencer his hand, which Spencer grabbed without thought. Morgan waited until Spencer had both his feet on the ground before giving him a little tug. He stumbled slightly, falling into Morgan, who caught him.

‘That’s what happens when you insist on cramming your legs into such a small space, genius,’ teased Morgan.

‘I’ll keep that in mind for next time,’ Spencer promised him.

‘No you won’t,’ said Morgan, grinning.

‘If you two are quite finished, we have a plane to catch,’ said Gideon.

Hotch and Elle were waiting for them outside in the corridor. Elle was leaning against the wall with Hotch hovering close to Elle’s side, almost as if he thought she was going to fall over at any moment.

Spencer snorted softly to himself, trying to hide his smile.

Morgan shot a quizzical look his way. ‘What?’

‘I was just thinking,’ he said softly, because he didn’t want either Hotch or Gideon to hear him, ‘that if Gideon is the dad of the team, then Hotch must be the mom.’

Morgan raised his eyebrows, looking adorably confused. ‘What?’

Reid shook his head. ‘Nothing. Doesn’t matter.’ Elle would appreciate that; he’d tell her on the plane or when they were back in Quantico. And there was no way he was going to think through the implications of him thinking of Morgan as looking adorably confused. He was going to ignore it just like all the other times such thoughts had managed to pass through his head unchecked.

Giving him one last look, Morgan turned to Hotch. ‘Hey, where’s JJ?’

‘She’s just talking to the police chief. She’ll meet us out front.’

‘Good.’

‘So, how are you feeling?’ Spencer asked Elle, walking a little quicker so he caught up with her.

‘I’m fine, Reid. I was fine at the train and I’m fine now.’

‘You’ve had some stitches put in.’ It was kind of stating the obvious but Spencer was glad he had insisted that Elle go to the hospital, even if she would have had to go anyway because of SOP.

‘Yes I did. But I’ve had worse, so believe me, you don’t need to hover. I’m not going to break.’

Spencer held up his hands in surrender. ‘I didn’t think that you would.’ He grinned at her, shooting a look over to Hotch, who was still talking to Morgan. ‘Is mom hovering a bit too much?’

‘Reid, I’m shocked at you!’ But she was grinning.

‘Hey, you were the one who put the idea in my head,’ he protested.

She bumped his shoulder. ‘Oh, you’re blaming this all on me, are you?’

He smiled at her. ‘Definitely.’ If they were keeping with the family motif, then Elle would be the older sister, JJ the middle one, and Garcia the youngest.

Morgan threw his arm around Spencer’s shoulders. ‘What’s pretty boy blaming on you?’

And Morgan would definitely be the older brother. Most of the time. When Spencer wasn’t trying to ignore certain, inappropriate thoughts about his friend. Especially as Morgan would never be thinking the same kind of things about Spencer, even if he was that way inclined.

‘Oh, nothing important.’

He shrugged. ‘If you say so. How are you feeling, Elle?’

Elle rolled her eyes at Spencer before answering Morgan in a saccharine tone. ‘Yes, Morgan, I’m absolutely fine. Thanks for asking.’

Morgan frowned at her over Spencer’s head, something Spencer had never been able to work out how he did, since they were the same height. ‘Are you sure you’re...’

‘It was a bump on the head. It’s not like I lost a limb or anything.’ She was definitely losing her patience with all the questions.

‘Elle-’

Spencer elbowed Morgan in the ribs.

‘Hey!’ Morgan’s arm around his shoulders loosened but was never relinquished.

‘She’s fine, Morgan. Just fed up of everyone asking her if she’s fine. Hotch and Gideon are tag teaming her.’

‘Oh, that’s never fun,’ Morgan sympathised, putting on his sunglasses as they went outside.

Reid frowned, realising that Morgan hadn’t actually removed his arm from around Reid’s shoulders. He wasn’t complaining, but, still.

‘What’s not fun?’ asked Hotch.

‘N...nothing,’ stammered Spencer. He winced internally. He was just such a bad liar. And it didn’t help when Morgan and Elle were sniggering either side of him.

Hotch raised a sardonic eyebrow. ‘Sometimes it’s like dealing with high school students.’

JJ was standing behind Hotch so he didn’t see it when she mouthed ‘Did Hotch just make a joke?’ at them. Spencer couldn’t help the giggle that escaped his lips, no matter how much he pressed them together.

‘Are you sure you weren’t given any drugs?’ Morgan asked him.

‘Yes!’

‘High schoolers,’ re-alliterated Hotch. He walked round to the driver’s seat. ‘Let’s go.’

Morgan opened the door and pushed Spencer towards it. ‘Go on, get in.’

Spencer climbed in, grumbling, ‘You guys got me in trouble.’ He glared at Elle. ‘And after I saved your life.’

Elle climbed in beside him. ‘What can I say, Reid? You’re my hero.’


End file.
